Last night, we began a new series called “Confessions of a Pastor.” As I mentioned here, it is inspired from Craig Groeschel’s book of the same name.
I introduced the message by talking about phobias. We looked at some funny ones (I think it’s hillarious that the fear of long words is called hippopotomonstrosesquippadaliophobia. I also think that far too many guys have pentheraphobia, the fear of their mother-in-law.)
We looked at the top ten fears people have and then focused on one that many have, but doesn’t seem to show up on any of the lists. It is the fear of being real. Why do so many struggle with that?
I opened it up for discussion and there was some great thoughts offered. Some of the resons we are so afraid to be real included:
- conditioning: most of us have been pretending since we were quite young. We learn early in life — in the playground — to wear masks. Some built a “persona” in their early teens or 20’s that they don’t know how to remove now.
- rejection: often our masks are a result of past rejection. We showed a little of ourselves to others and didn’t like their response. It was easier to just hide behind a mask that to deal with more rejection.
- necessity: sometimes we have to wear masks in order to get promotions, etc. at work. Our jobs expect us to be a certain way even if it’s not who were truly are.
Hiding behind a mask is not exclusive to church circles. I’ve been around a lot of people — church and non-church alike — and people are the same in that area. But it is ironic that church people feel the need to hide. After all, our leader, Jesus, was the ultimate example of someone being real.
Think about it. Very few people would call Jesus a wimp. Certainly not after you read his story and how he stood up against injustice. He wasn’t afraid to confront those who were treating others wrongly, even when no one stood with him. His death was pretty grusome, and yet he went through with the torture even though he could have stopped it at any time by simply speaking out.
Jesus was a man’s man. And yet, after the death of his good friend Lazarus, the Bible offers us the shortest verse found within its pages: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
Jesus openly wept. He wasn’t afraid to show his feelings. He was sad, and he showed it.
There is a freedom that comes when we are willing to be real. My hope is that through this series, and with the discussion that will be a part of it, we will learn how to be more real.
If you want, visit our website each week to watch the video of the series. It is usually online no later than Monday.
